Fix: Unable to Start the Bluetooth Stack Service

The Bluetooth Stack Service is responsible for handling your Bluetooth needs such as connecting to other Bluetooth devices and sharing files among them. That being said, the error can be often encountered on laptops but it can also happen to PCs who have the Bluetooth dongle installed.

The “Unable to start Bluetooth Stack Service” either appears on startup or when you try to use your Bluetooth connection to connect with other devices. There are several methods which can be used to solve the problem and we have chosen the ones for which other users confirmed they work. Good luck!

Solution 1: Update Your Bluetooth Driver

The most basic solution is often the most helpful and that is definitely the case with this particular method. The error with the Bluetooth Stack Service is most often caused by either old or outdated drivers and you should always pay close attention to this. Luckily, the drivers can be updated easily and you should use the ones available on your computer’s manufacturer’s page.

1. Click on the Start button, type Device Manager with the menu open, and select it from the top of the suggestions window.
2. If you are using an older operating system (older than Windows 10), you can use the Windows Logo Key + R key combination on your keyboard, type in “devmgmt.msc” in the Run dialog box, and click OK.

3. Expand the either the Other devices section at the very bottom of the Device Manager window or the special Bluetooth section. If there is a Bluetooth section, right-click on all entries underneath this section and choose the Update Driver option from the context menu.
4. If you locate your Bluetooth device under the Other devices section, right-click on all entries starting with Bluetooth and choose the Update Driver option.

5. Select Search automatically for updated driver software in the new window and wait for Windows to search for a new driver.
6. If Windows doesn’t find new drivers of if they don’t solve the problem, you can try looking for one on the device manufacturer’s website and follow their instructions.

Note: If you are a Windows 10 user, latest drivers for built-in devices are often installed alongside regular Windows updates so make sure you keep your computer up to date at all costs. Windows Update is done automatically on Windows 10 but you can check for new updates by following the instructions below.

1. Use the Windows Key + I key combination on your keyboard in order to open Settings on your Windows computer. Alternatively, you can search for “Settings” by using the search bar on the Taskbar or the Start menu.

2. Locate and open the “Update & security” part in the Settings app.
3. Stay in the Windows Update tab and click on the Check for updates under the Update status in order to check whether there is a new version of Windows available.

4. If there is one, Windows should proceed with the download process and you will be prompted to restart your computer in order to complete the update.

Solution 2: Tweak the Bluetooth Services

Even though that this message appears to be directed at a certain Bluetooth service, you should perform the steps presented below for all services whose name contains the word “Bluetooth”. This has to be done because all Bluetooth services depend on each other and a broken one will cause others to crash as well.

1. Open the Run utility by using the Windows Key + R key combination on your keyboard. Type “services.msc” in the newly opened box without the quotation marks and click OK in order to open a tool which manages Windows services.

2. Locate all services whose name contains the word “Bluetooth” in the services list, right-click on it and select Properties from the context menu which appears.
3. If the service is already started (you can check that just next to the Service status message), you should stop it by clicking the Stop button in the middle of the window. If it is stopped, leave it stopped just for now.

4. Make sure that the option under the Startup type menu in the service’s properties window is set to Automatic before you proceed with other steps. Confirm any dialogue boxes which may appear when changing the startup type. Click on the Start button at the middle of the window before exiting. Make sure you repeat the same process for all Bluetooth services.

You may receive the following error message when you click on Start:

 “Windows could not start the service  on Local Computer. Error 1079: The account specified for this service differs from the account specified for other services running in the same process.”

If this happens, follow the instructions below to fix it.

1. Follow the steps 1-3 from the instructions above in order to open the service’s properties window. Navigate to the Log On tab and click on the Browse… button.

2. Under the “Enter the object name to select” entry box, type in your account’s name, click on Check Names and wait for the name to become available.
3. Click OK when you are finished and type in the password in the Password box when you are prompted with it, if you have setup a password. It should now start without issues!

Solution 3: Disable Bttray from Startup

If the error message appears without presenting a real problem, it might simply be a bug which can be dealt with easily. If you experience no issues using your Bluetooth devices or connecting to other ones, you might simply be able to solve the problem by disabling the Bttray entry in the startup as it often causes this error.

If this change affects any of your Bluetooth devices negatively, you can simply undo the changes almost the same as you have made them. Good luck!

Windows 10:

1. Use the Ctrl + Shift + Esc keyboard combination by pressing these keys at the same time in order to open the Task Manager.
2. Alternatively, you can use the Ctrl + Alt + Del key combination and select Task Manager from the blue window which opens with several options. You can also search for it in the Start menu.

3. Navigate to the Startup tab at the top navigation menu and locate the Bttray or Bluetooth Tray option at the list.
   
4. Click on it in order to select it and click the Disable button at the lower right part of the window in order to preventing from starting up when your computer boots.
5. Apply the changes you have made, restart your computer, and check to see if the problem still appears.

Older Versions of Windows:

1. Use the Windows Key + R key combination on your keyboard and wait for the Run dialog box to open. Type “msconfig” in the box and click the OK button in order to open System Configuration.

2. Navigate to the Startup tab at the top navigation menu and locate the Bttray or Bluetooth Tray option at the list.
3. Clear the check box next to this option in order to disable it from starting up and click either the OK or the Apply button in order to confirm the changes.

4. Restart your computer and check to see if the problem still appears.

Note: The entry in the Windows startup list which should also be disabled if found can be Bluetooth Software, as noted by some users.